My name is Dave Stancliff. Walk down the road of life with me each day. You'll find news and my views. I'm a Vietnam Veteran, father to three sons, proud grandfather 5 times over, an independent thinker, and a former newspaper publisher and editor.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Suffer the Children: 10,000 Kids Killed or Injured Every Year With Guns

Good Day World!

America’s children have become victims of politics.

Injuries from firearms send an estimated 7,000 kids to the ER every year, and an additional 3,000 children die from gunshot wounds before they can get to a hospital, according to a new studypublished in the journal Pediatrics.

Doctors are pointing to the new data as further evidence of the serious public health toll that gun violence takes on America’s youth.

That should come as no surprise. The United States’ rate of mortality from firearms is about ten times higher than the rates in other wealthy nations.

The National Rifle Association’s assault on any gun laws have subdued Congress and destroyed every legislative attempt to correct the situation.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) estimates that firearms are one of the top three causes of death among children, killing twice as many kids as cancer does.

What can be done about this problem?

Some legal experts have suggested raising the legal age to purchase a handgun to 21, since research has demonstrated that there’s a peak in gun violence among youth between the ages of 18 and 20.

The AAP has also pushed for expanded background checks and safe storage to ensure that guns aren’t falling into the wrong hands. And more states could move to make adults criminally liable for allowing kids to have access to guns.

These are a few ideas that would help. There has to be other things that can be done to save our children from guns.

Our federal government, and state governments, need to put more emphasis on this problem. Children need to be more of a priority in American. Both their safety and education should be a national priority.

Sadly, that’s not the case. One can only hope we wake up in time to stem this deadly tide.